E-Paper
IIT's smart solutions to Army
IIT-DELHI HAS developed two products that can greatly ease the lives of soldiers, especially those in border areas. The first is a card, which can determine a person?s blood group within 60 seconds. The second product is a water purifying system that can clean water in about three minutes.
IIT-DELHI HAS developed two products that can greatly ease the lives of soldiers, especially those in border areas. The first is a card, which can determine a person’s blood group within 60 seconds. It can be very useful especially during war and conflict. The second product is a water purifying system that can clean water in about three minutes.
An IIT Delhi team had given a presentation of these products at the defence ministry last week.
“A decision on this will be taken later. But if both products are introduced, they will be very useful,” said a defence ministry official.
The blood test card can be used in extreme temperatures. In the present system, three different types of liquid antisera are added to blood samples to determine the blood group.
The antisera needs to be refrigerated as it loses effectiveness within an hour at room temperature. It also needs to be handled carefully during storage and transportation.
“But in IIT’s system, three blood drops are taken on a slide and antisera is in a dried drop form on a card,” explained Dr Harpal Singh from the IIT’s department of biomedical engineering. This dry antisera is active even at room temperature for a prolonged period of time. The antisera is also active under extreme conditions and can be effectively used in the scorching deserts of Rajasthan as well as the sub-zero temperatures at Siachen.
The water purifying system is a rod-based polymer that is easy to carry and does not have side-effects. It is a contact killing antimicrobial polymer in the form of a rod. To purify water, ordinary tap water should be stirred with the rod for three minutes.
SMART BOX
Wonder tools
• Smart card: It can determine a person's blood group within 60 seconds. Can also be used at extreme temperatures
• Magic rod: A water purifying system in the form of a rod to clean water in three minutes
